Paid Links: The Battle Ain’t Over Yet

Links are valuable because Google made them valuable.

Before Google, links had one primary function: they were reference points.  They allowed webmasters to point to other pages and users to follow with only a click.

When Google revolutionized search, they did it largely by taking links as signals of trust and relevance.  And it worked.  The relevance of Google results far surpassed that of any other existing search engine at the time.  Word spread fast, and Google’s traffic skyrocketed (and continues to increase).  When they launched their AdWords program, Google had an entire farm of cash cows in the form of paying advertisers – and they’ve been milking it to the tune of multiple billions ever since.

Webmasters who had been leveraging the weaknesses of existing search engines to bring in traffic would have no such luck with Google.  Stuffing keywords into title and meta tags and massive blocks of white-on-white text didn’t work so well anymore.  You had to have links, and from the most relevant and powerful sources you could find.

It was just a matter of time before links were traded and a new currency on the web was created.  The value increased as Google’s usage grew – and it did so almost exponentially.  Other search engines essentially did one of two things:

1. They licensed Google search results, or
2. They scrambled to catch up with Google’s superior method by incorporating links, among other factors, into their own ranking algorithms.

Early on, reciprocal link exchanges were an easy way for webmasters to help themselves by helping each other.  So-called “free for all” directories helped improve rankings as well.  They allowed webmasters and “SEOs” to participate in easy link exchange programs with no purpose other than to gain links and build PageRank.  “Featured listing” offerings, with more prominence and at higher levels of site infrastructure, were available for a fee.  Paid links were born.

Every time it has grown too easy to link build your way to the top and effective fringe tactics go mainstream, Google shakes things up in response.

They stripped free for all directories of their ability to pass PageRank.  They reduced the effectiveness of reciprocal link exchanges.  And last year, they went on the offensive against link sellers.  A wide swath of websites, mainstream and not-so-mainstream, saw their PageRank dropped significantly or entirely overnight.  Many directories stopped ranking for their own brand names.  Major online publishers, in some cases, were penalized for “sponsored” links that didn’t include the “nofollow” attribute.  Their advertisers were suddenly paying for something that had next to zero value.

It was a pretty good spanking all around, and many webmasters were left wiping the snot from their noses as they dutifully did what Google ordered, adding “nofollow” to their paid links, submitting “we’ve been good” reinclusion requests and waiting for their advertisers to pull out or demand extreme discounts.

Their mistake: they made it obvious.  They tagged the links for Google.  They painted targets on their backs and went about tending to the landscaping.

Now we’re hearing the same buzz all over again with the launch of MediaWhiz’s new InLinks service.

What’s changed since the last time around?  Fundamentally, nothing.  The underground link brokers are staying underground, perhaps ducking their heads in a bit deeper.  Many self-proclaimed “white hat” SEOs are following Google’s instructions to “just build great content” while others scoff at the concept.  Jim Boykin of We Build Pages publicly announced that his company will no longer be buying links as part of their link building services.  Google is still asking webmasters to out link brokers.  And buying links is still an effective way to improve your Google rankings so long as you’re OK with violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and the risk that comes along with that.

When will this change?  As long as links play a central role in determining Google rankings, it never will.  The paid links game will always exist, it’ll just go deeper underground when it has to.  There will always be the risk of Google catching on or a competitor outing your tactics – but as long as the reward is greater than that risk, buying links will remain a tactic, albeit perhaps less common, for improving rankings.

My position on the issue?  I think any link brokers who do business out in the open should know their days are numbered.  Any relationship you enter as a link broker you need to be careful about.  Google is not the government, but if you want to play in their pond while openly breaking their rules be prepared to get dunked.  At the end of the day, though, there is no shortage of ways to buy links without getting pegged for it.  Be cautious, be smart, moderate and don’t brag about it.